Indian Director Anurag Kashyap Co-Produces Short Film Project on YouTube (Video)

The director's banner AKFPL and Viacom18 India have backed five shorts by up-and-coming local filmmakers, who explore the common theme "India Is a Visual Journey."

NEW DELHI – Acclaimed Indian director Anurag Kashyap's banner AKFPL and Viacom18 Motion Pictures have co-produced five short films by up-and-coming filmmakers for a new project launched on YouTube.

The venture is in association with the Ministry of External Affairs' “India Is” campaign, launched in 2011 to showcase various facets of the country. The five shorts revolve around the common theme “India Is a Visual Journey.”

Neeraj Ghaywan’s The Epiphany follows the story of a divorced couple on a road trip who are forced to scrape the wounds of the past that they thought were long gone.

Following his debut film, Peddlers (screened at Cannes last year), Vasan Bala’s Geek Out deals with a young man's virtual alter ego redefining the image of the typical Indian “geek.” Anurag's sister Anubhuti Kashyap, meanwhile, makes her directorial debut with Moi Marjaani, which follows a single mother in a small Punjabi town who finds love on the Internet.

Shlok Sharma’s Hidden Cricket revolves around India's passion for the sport, and Gitanjali Rao’s Chai showcases India's rapid changes and "what it means to those people whose faces we never notice as we go along sipping our daily cup of tea."

The five shorts have premiered online on Viacom18's YouTube channel. Last year, the studio co-produced Kashyap's two-part epic Gangs of Wasseypur, which premiered at Cannes.

Most recently, Kashyap took part in the Bombay Talkies project, which featured four short films by leading directors celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema. Co-produced by Viacom18 and showcased at Cannes in May, the project's other directors included Zoya Akhtar, Karan Johar and Dibakar Banerjee.